Monday, September 26, 2011

Monday- cancer, a serial killer, Mt. Everest, my rod and my ego.

This coming Saturday I'm going to a party thrown by our close friends Mary Anne and Drew. Of all my friends they are the ones I invited to the cabin for my 40th birthday last month. The party is to celebrate friends and life before she goes in to have a double mastectomy next week to remove both breasts as she was diagnosed with cancer last month. This will mark the beginning of a long haul for her, her husband, and their 2 and 4 year old daughters. In the words of JP... fuck cancer.

No runnin' today. Instead we drove home from Mizzeruh... 11 hours. But books on disc freaking rock and pass the time. In the 22 hour round trip we listened to "High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed" which gives a behind the scenes look at some of the underhanded, greedy, and evil things that happen on the mountain. After listening to it I've lost a certain amount of respect for many of the people who summit, or are part of the crews that summit, the mountain. When people spend ~$60,000 and months at 20k+ altitude... many turn demonic it seems.
We also listened to the biography "In With The Devil" about serial killer Larry Hall who killed (possibly) up to 40 women. Crazy story that makes me wish I had pursued a career in law.... or at least was in the right place at the right time in 1993 with a handgun or a dull knife. Larry Hall is a real piece of shit.

I was asked for my 40th birthday if I wanted a gift certificate to a running or cycling store and I said I would rather have one to a Cabelas or Bass Pro... so this weekend I was at a Cabelas and found a massively discounted fly rod and along with the gift certificate got it for almost nothing...

It's a 5 piece, 9'/ 5 weight rod which is going to be perfect for back country packing or...

possibly running/ biking to a river or lake. It fits acceptably in to my hydration pack.

And it looks like the video of ME is going to happen. Ultimate Direction is setting up the video shoot and you all get to glimpse my life and where I live it. And I have also been asked to do a podcast for an ultra running site. In truth I don't understand this attention. I'm not an ultra runner and honestly... I'm not even a runner. We'll see how it goes though.

15 comments:

wende
said...

Glad you guys made it home safe and sound....I miss ya'll all ready...

James- The IPA thing would be awesome. Leadville 2012? You would freaking crush it! Cheap trip for you too. Or I should say you two. Beth would kill it too. The philosophical side of putting one foot in front of the other and then validating that can be discussed after a few many IPAs...

Your pack with the pole reminds of the time I ran up Devils Thumb Pass, and at the top there was this other trail runner from Ned named Bruce. Turns out he was running up to King Lake for a little fishing -- a mere 10 mile run to 11,500 feet. lol. The weather sucked so we ran back down together. Then he got on his mountain bike and rode home from Hessie. Gotta love it. And that's pretty much what I see you doing :)

There's really nothing else I'd want to do than take a rod, bike, and tent into the woods for a few days. Only problem is there's definitely no rivers around here, and I just realized I don't know how to fly fish:). That's awesome though man!

And I'm sure the podcast would be awesome. You get all the attention because you deserve it. You've done some spectacular things. The greatest part about it is that you're humble enough not to realize it! :) Keep us updated!

Tim, I know quite a few people that look at life and embrace life completely differently after emerging from the other side of cancer. Hopefully your friend can find a new lease on life and find a good place of peace along the way.

On your not being a runner, thats right. You are a fast jogger right? ;)

Dave- There are a bunch of lakes up near The Divide behind my house that I want to run up to and fish for the day. When my boys are older definitely the back country hikes for a few days will be happening.

Brett- I imagine it will be a fairly profound experience for her that in retrospect will be a positive in her life. I'm ignorant though having never experienced it. That's what I hope for her though. Ya, I'm a relatively strong jogger :)

Preamo- No I haven't but I can certainly see that it would be awesome to try! What material did you use? I recently found 2 vintage dip nets at a thrift store made out of mahogany with old German brass fittings. They're a matching pair with one at ~16" and one at ~24" long. $2.99 each. Now I want a vintage bamboo rod for a wall display. Maybe an old creel.